Save 20% on the Print of the Month – Parting of the Red Sea. Captured on my annual trip to Katmai National Park, Alaska, a brown bear hunts for a meal while Sockeye salmon circle just beyond reach! The green of the water in contrast to the bright reds of of the spawning salmon create a natural frame for the fishing bear. A few trips to this location are upcoming in August, but on the verge of selling out – check out the events page for more info!
My most recent trip was with some friends to the Monterey Coast of California, a region known for it’s beautiful coastline and a vast variety of marine life in one scenic location. Though this is a vacation destination rife with sights and creatures, it’s also an amazing place to explore imaginary landscapes in patterns of rocks that line the shores.
If you’re looking for a place to go where you’ll never want for subjects, this is it – wildlife, landscapes, and artistic abstracts all in one beautiful location with food and lodging on par with the rest of the experience. It’s my hope we will add another retreat to this location in the future, so keep your eye on the events page!
What’s next?! This is a beautiful time of year to explore the west coast – the Columbia River Gorge and Oregon Coast workshops are coming up very quickly, with few spots remaining – how is the time to pull the trigger and join me in areas I’ve been exploring my whole life!
This past week I set out on an adventure with good friends to the Sea of Cortez and we were not disappointed. Aboard a boat with an excellent crew, we were treated to a variety of creatures quite literally great and small – pilot whales, dolphins, a variety of rays, and much more. A blue whale made an appearance, it’s massive size not quite apparent until we had a drone in the air.
Among the other revelations gleaned from having the ‘eye in the sky’ came when a leaping ray caught our eye. We sent the drone over to capture it from above, only to find it was just one particularly active member of a large fever of rays – a pleasant and unexpected surprise!
Enjoy the slide show, and stay tuned for more photos from several upcoming trips. My schedule is filling up, but it’s nice to be back out there!
Join Gavriel Jecan in Katmai, Alaska for a photography workshop in a one-of-a-kind location! Along with trusted Pilot and guide Jerry Jacques, be one of a small group of 8 participants photographing the wilderness and wildlife alongside a pair of professionals and experts on shooting in this unique National Park.
Gavriel started photographing at the age of 12 when his father gave him his first SLR camera. His appreciation of photography grew while photographing black-and-white on family hiking trips in the mountains. His love of nature, rock climbing and traveling inspired him to become a professional photographer.
In 1994 Gavriel joined Art Wolfe, Inc. and he traveled extensively with Art the world over. He was a member of the Art Wolfe’s Travels to the Edge TV field crew and teaches photography around the world on his own photo tours and Art Wolfe, Inc. The quality and scope of Jecan’s shooting has gained him representation by the world’s largest stock photography agencies (Getty, Corbis, Danita Delimont, OnAsia, and Okapia).
Gav’s images appear regularly in calendars and magazines worldwide, including International Wildlife, Backpacker, Audubon, National Geographic, Midwest Express, Nature Foto, German Geo, Asian Geo, Outside, Sinra, Terre Sauvage etc. He has published five children’s books: C for Coyote, Wild Colors, Alaska Animal Babies, Hide and Seek, and South West Colors.
For the last decade Gavriel has specialized in Southeast Asian locations. He lives in Thailand with his family.
Sign up now for Gavriel’s Katmai Alaska Workshop before it’s sold out – and check out the Katmai episode of Where’s Art? if you’re unfamiliar with this location!
This May, I’ll be leading a brand new retreat originating in Pacific Grove, California with an exclusive opportunity to join for just five participants. We will capture the beauty synonymous with this location as well as integrating many of the themes of my Abstract Astoria and Atlanta Workshops, as well as my Photography As Art seminars.
Without further ado, here are the Top 10 Reasons to Attend the Pacific Grove Retreat in May!
1. Visit a gorgeous location on California’s fabled Monterey Bay!
2. Limited to just five attendees, there will be plenty of face time for each participant.
3. Take your photography to the next level in this masterclass with two world-class instructors.
4. Free entry to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, where I will be giving a brown-bag lunch talk.
5. Go kayaking and photograph otters with the world’s premier nature photographer; if you’ve never kayaked before, rest assured we will have trained guides so you can focus on your photos!
6. Great food! We will be celebrating Cinco de Mayo in a region renowned for its great cuisine. We will dine together, and I *may* have a margarita or two!
7. Explore the region that inspired the likes of Ansel Adams and Edward Weston.
8. Get your photography portfolio reviewed! Gavriel Jecan and myself will look at everyone’s work and provide constructive feedback that you’ll be able to carry with you onto future trips.
9. Receive a copy of my limited edition book HUMAN CANVAS.
10. Experiential learning at its best. It’s my hope that the lessons you learn on this retreat will be referenced on your travel and photography adventures moving forward.
Spaces on this retreat are extremely limited, and some are already spoken for – sign up today to ensure your spot!
A brown bear sow watches over her cubs as they survey the landscape, Katmai National Park, Alaska, U.S.A.
Save 20% on “Motherhood” in our online store through the end of the month!
Art has chosen images that trace back to his arts education background for his Limited Edition Fine Art Collection. Images with the same sensuous tones and textures realized by watercolor painting were selected. They are printed on EPSON Metallic Luster or Somerset Velvet watercolor paper using archival EPSON Ultrachrome inks. After each print is approved, it is then titled, numbered and signed by Art. Only 100 of each will be made.
Print sizes are approximate based on image or format. Canvas prints on EPSON Exhibition Canvas are available. Contact our office for more information.
The polar bears of Churchill are world famous, of course; like many photographers I have made pilgrimages there since the early 1980s. This has given me the opportunity to photograph the bears in various ways. From a tundra buggy, you can see the bears engaging in harmless battles as they wait to hunt seals once the ice that’s formed on Hudson Bay. From the air I recorded the beautiful patterns on the frozen lake’s surface as well as the bear’s shadow cast across the ice. To emphasize the barren tundra terrain and diminish the bear’s presence, I selected a 17-35mm wide-angle lens.
For The Living Wild I went to Churchill to photograph cubs newly emerged from their winter dens. Not only did I find several sows with their cubs, but I found them in near-perfect late afternoon light.
Because light meters are calibrated to read any scene as neutral gray, I set my aperture to overexpose by two stops from the reading to make sure the snow stays white. Without this compensation, the bears would be underexposed. This gives the most accurate exposures for white animals in the snow.
In anticipation of finally getting back to world travel, I’ve been easing back into the swing of things by making a few day trips to visit our neighbor to the north to photograph the birds of the region – predominantly owls in this case. Solitary and intelligent, owls are some of my favorite animals to photograph. Although stoic and not as playful as many animals, at any moment they can burst into a flash of spectacular action to make a precision strike on their prey. Featured in this set are a variety of owls – short-eared, long-eared, barn owl, and even a pygmy owl hunting voles which I was incredibly happy to find here. Enjoy!
We are fast approaching spring and kicking off quite a few events in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. Come join me for a seminar or a workshop whether you’re local or just want to visit!
Photography As Art is coming back to Seattle, and soon! If you’ve missed out in the past, now’s your chance. This seminar tends to fill up fast as it gets near, so sign up today to ensure your spot! If you’ve attended this seminar in the past, I’m continually revising it to add new photos and perspectives, so it can be a great refresher while you prepare for spring shooting!
Always a fan favorite! We will include some new locations this time around, and work with 6-stop neutral density filters to expand on technique. This is an excellent way to experience the Pacific Northwest, whether you’re a native who wants to explore your own back yard, or from out of the area and want to experience the lush variety of our corner of the world where it converges between the Olympic range and the Pacific ocean
Situated at the mouth of the mighty Columbia River, Astoria is a fascinating and revitalizing port city with a history tied to the early territorial aspirations of the United States. My goal is work closely with each participant to truly transform and refine their skills while exploring the nature of creativity itself. This ties strongly into the subject matter I cover in Photography As Art.
Same locations, two different seasons to capture beautiful Mt. Rainier and the surrounding Cascade Range, as well as the lush forest, meadows, and surrounding forests! We will use the setting of Mt. Rainier National Park to discuss composition and design in nature photography. Aside from lessons in the field, there will also be lectures on these subjects as well as informative critiques of your work in the field.
Art Wolfe: Spotlighting is an often unpredictable event that can create and unexpected picture. With this image of a tiger in the dense forest, it was essential that I spot-meter the tiger’s illuminated face to ensure it was exposed correctly, since all of the deep shadows could have easily fooled the camera’s meter.
Martha Hill: I find this image intriguing. Tigers are among the most elusive of the big cats, and this image, by showing it lurking in the shadows, perfectly captures the animal’s mystery. To me it is a more evocative rendering of the subject than the more commonplace, out-in-the-open view we often see.
Art Wolfe: In the hours prior to this shot (of Bridalveil Fall), the valley had been covered in flat light under solid cloud cover. Late in the afternoon, however, the clouds began to break, sending shafts of light onto the faces of El Capitan and Half Dome, and, in this case, the waterfalls that rush over the cliffs in early spring.
Getting the proper exposure in a shot like this can be challenging. using my camera’s spot meter, I took a reading off the brightest area and opened up to keep the whole image from getting too dark.
Martha Hill: This image has drama and mood. Bridalveil Fall is one of Yosemite’s most photographed icons, but the unusual lighting conditions captured here set this image apart. The momentary beam of light illuminates the distant waterfall, directing the eye immediately to it. Under different conditions, such as an even lighting, we might overlook the waterfall altogether in this already dramatic landscape. The success of this image depends on timing – waiting for the exact moment when the light will highlight an interesting visual element.
Art Wolfe: In the hours prior to this shot (of Bridalveil Fall), the valley had been covered in flat light under solid cloud cover. Late in the afternoon, however, the clouds began to break, sending shafts of light onto the faces of El Capitan and Half Dome, and, in this case, the waterfalls that rush over the cliffs in early spring.